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1>M)N «;i>raSEmOR FMIBMEN. 



L;,UtTl!Aj.GEN.C.D.FlSR. 




Glass _£LLS_£_ 



PLAIN COUNSELS 



FOK 



FREEDMEN 



JN SIXTEEN BRIEF LECTURES. 



BY 



BREVET MAJOR-GENERAL 

CLINTON B. FISK 




PUBLISHED BY THE 

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

iS CORKHILL, BOSTON. 



• 15 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by the 

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



JJH tf' 



S-IJ'^/d 



ROCTTWELL AND ROLLIITS, Printers, 
122 Washington Street, Boston. 



DEDICATION. 



-•o*- 



TO THE 



FREEDMEN OF THE UNITED STATES, 

Now happily released from the house of bondage, and fairly 
set forward in the path of progress, these Plain Counsels are 
respectfully and affectionately dedicated by one who has 
marched with them through the Red Sea of strife, sympathized 
with them in all their sufferings, labored incessantly for their 
well-being,. rejoiced in their prosperity, and who believes that, 
guided by the pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night, they 
will reach the Promised Land. 

CLINTON B. FISK, 

Brevet Major- General U. S. Volunteers, and Assistant Commissioner 

in the Freedmen^s Bureau. 

Nashville, Tenn., March 1, 1866. 



CONTENTS. 



LECTURE I. 

PAGE 

0:^ Freedom 7 

LECTURE IL 
About tour Old Master 10 

LECTURE IIL 
About "White Folks 13 

LECTURE IV, 
About Yourself . 15 

LECTURE V. 
To Young Men , " 19 

LECTURE VI. 
To Young Women 25 

LECTURE VII. 
To Married Folks 28 

LECTURE Vin. 
The Little Folks 36 

LECTURE IX. 
Work 40 

LECTURE X. 
Free Labor 45 

LECTURE XL 
Contracts 47 

LECTURE XII. 
Dishonesty . . 51 

LECTURE XIII. 
Receipts and Expenditures 55 

LECTURE XIV. 

Homes . . . . 59 

LECTURE XV. . 
Crime 67 

LECTURE XVT. 
Religion 71 



PLAIN ^COUNSELS. 



LECTUKE I. 

O]^ FREEDOM. 

(/1^ VERY man is born into the world with 
>^\l^ the right to his OAvn Kfe, to personal 
^^ liberty, and to inherit, earn, own, and 
^ hold projDerty. These rights are given 
to him by the great God ; not because he is 
a white man, a red man, or a black man, but 
because he is ^ man, 

A man may lose his right to life, by mur- 
der ; to liberty, by theft ; and to jDroperty in 
many ways ; but he loses these rights for 
hhnself alone, and not for his children, his 
neighbors, or his race. God means that ev- 
ery child born shall have a fair chance ; and 
to take away from any one any of the rights 
named, before any wrong is done, is a high 
crime. 

'No^Y, for hundreds of years, these rights 
\ wf^ro token from vou. You were slaves. 



8 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN 

You were owned, bought, and sold like cat- 
tle and horses. You could not defend your 
own life, could not claim your liberty, nor 
own any property. It is true, your masters 
sometimes allowed you to have a little prop- 
erty, and to call it yours, but the law did 
not give it to you, and you could not will it 
to your children. Indeed, your children were 
not yours, but were the property of your mas- 
ters, and they had the power to take them 
from you and to sell them to whomsoever they 
pleased. 

But that day has passed for ever ! The great 
law — called the coxstitutio]^ — makes ev- 
ery man in America free! Our country's 
flag, the glorious star-spangled banner, floats 
proudly over a free people. A slave can not 
breathe our air. "When he touches our shores 
his fetters break, his chains fall ofl", and he 
becomes a man. The year of Jubilee has 
come, and you have all seen it, and heard the 
joyful news. 

For this great salvation — this mighty de- 
liverance — vou should thank God, everv dav A 



OiV^ FREEDOM. 9 

and every night; for it is He wlio lias broken 
open your prison doors, taken off your chains, 
and brought you out into the light, and glory, 
and bliss, of freedom. When the children of 
Israel were delivered from Pharaoh, and taken 
safely across the Red Sea, they sang and 
shouted, — " The Lord hath triumphed glori- 
ously." Your emancipation is the Lord's do- 
ings. Bless his name for ever and ever ! 

Oh, you should prize your freedom above 
gold, for it has cost rivers of blood I Go 
where you will, your eyes will behold great 
battle-fields, and the graves of brave men, 
who fell in the mighty struggle which made 
you free. During the bloody gigantic con- 
test, there has been mourning in tens of thou- 
sands of homes, in the JSTorth and in the 
South, and millions now mourn the loss of 
those they will never see again on earth. 

You can not be too glad that you are free; 
that your hands, your head, your heart, are 
your own ; and you should talk about freedom 
to your children, and your children's children, 
and teach them to love it more than lif<R. 




LECTUEE n. 

ABOUT YOUR OLD MASTER. 

HAVE a few words to say to you about 
your old master. It may be he was a 
very good master, or it may be he was 
not so good as he might have been, but 
that is all past now; he is yom- master no 
longer, and I earnestly advise you to live on 
good terms with him. 

He has had a hard time of it, during the 
war, as well as yourselves. His wealth has 
melted away like wax before the fire. His 
near relatives, and in many cases his sons, 
have died on the field of battle, or have been 
crippled for life, and the Government will 
grant no pensions in their cases, because they 
fought not under its flag. You have been 
made free against his will, and all the money 
he paid for you might better have been sunk 
in the bottom of the sea. 

T^ow it IS natural that he shonhl feel rovp 



4 



J 



ABOUT YOUB OLD MA8TEB. 11 

that he should grieve over his loss ; that he 
should be slow to adapt himself to the new 
state of things ; and that he should be some 
years in putting off the airs and manners of a 
master, just as you find it hard to shake off 
the habits of slaves. 

It is natural, too, that he should feel severe 
toward you. It is true you did not, in your 
servitude, agitate the questions of the day; 
you did not meddle with politics ; you were 
neither Republican nor Democratic; you did 
not begin the war; and he admits that you 
behaved all through the conflict in a very 
proper manner. Still, whenever he sees you 
he can not but think of the great change, and 
can not avoid blaming you for it, although his 
better judgment tells him he ought to praise, 
rather than blame you. 

You must think of these things, and think 
kindly of yoiu' old master. You have grown 
up with hun, it may be, on the same planta- 
tion. Do not fall out now, but join your in- 
terests if you can, and live and die together. 



12 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN 

wants your labor. He is not able to do with- 
out you, and you will, in most cases, find him 
as kind, honest, and libt ral as other men. In- 
deed he has for you a Mnd of family afiection, 
and in s^Dite of this bad feeling, I have noticed, 
he desires to see you do well in life. Be frank, 
then, with him, and treat him with respect. 

Do not think that, in order to be free, you 
must fall out with your old master, gather up 
your bundles and trudge off to a strange city. 
This is a great mistake. As a general rule, 
you can be as free and as happy in your old 
home, for the present, as any where else in 
the world. 




LECTUEE m. 

ABOUT WHITE FOLKS. 

S you very well know, some white folks 
are bad, others are good, and many are 
of no account either way; and in these 
respects they are very much like the 
colored folks. !N'ow, as you and your chil- 
dren will live among them, — in the same 
towns and on the same farms, — it is best for 
you and for them that you live on real good 
terms. 

"White people have old, strong prejudices, 
and you should avoid every thing you can 
which will inflame those prejudices. You 
laiow how easy it is to hurt a sore toe. Pre- 
I judices are like tender toes. Do not step on 
them when it is possible to avoid it. It can 
do you no good and may do much harm. It 
is better to have the good will than the ill 
will of even a dog. Strive to deserve the 
I good will of all the white people. 



14 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN 

If bad men make insulting remarks about 
you, shut your ears, and do not hear them. 
Pass on about your business. "Words will not 
hurt you much, or if they do grieve you, God 
will comfort and heal you. It takes two to 
make a quarrel ; and if you are bent on being 
good and kind, and return soft answers to 
hard words and good for evil, you will have 
few troubles with white men, and nearly all 
men will be kind to you and esteem you. 

Some white men will put on airs, and look 
down on you. ISTow, instead of putting on 
airs, too, and saying, " I am as good as you 
are," it is better to say nothing, or if you do 
answer, to say, ^^ I am not as good as I ought 
to be, as I want to be, and as I hope to be." 

Wliite men are very much influenced by a 
man's success in making a good living, and 
if you are thrifty and get on well in the world, 
they can not help respecting you. They make 
very polite bows to Frank P. and to Mr. S. 
because they have money in the bank. 




LECTURE IV. 

ABOUT YOURSELF. 

HElJf a man sets out in life with no 
capital but himself, he must be a 
^* pretty good fellow, or he will break 
up. Now, sit down, and let me tell 
you a few home truths. 

You can not afford to smoJce fine cigars. 
I say nothing of the icrong, but of the cost. 
Cigars cost, at least, ten cents apiece. Sup- 
pose you smoke only four a day, — that is 
forty cents a day, — two dollars and eighty 
cents a week, — twelve dollars and thirteen 
I cents a month, — one hundi^ed and fortj^-five 
dollars and sixty cents a year! This would 
buy you a fine mule, or a good wagon, or a 
lot of ground. 

You can not afford to drhik any "kind of 
spirituous or mcdt liquors. To say nothing of 
their bad effects on your health and morals, 
von can not, in justice to yourself, pay what 



v 

16 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEED3IEN. ' 

1 

they will cost. Three glasses of beer a day ^ 
would be thirty cents, — two dollars and ten 
cents per week, — nine dollars and ten cents 
per month, — one hundred and nine dollars 
and twenty cents per year ! But, if you drink 
at all, you will want something stronger than 
beer and more costly, and you will waste your 
time at drinking saloons, fall into bad com- 
pany, and, ten chances to one, become a mis- 
erable, bloated, wheezing, blear-eyed, drunk- 
ard. ISTo, you can not afford to drink. " Touch 
not, taste not, handle not." Do not go into 
a liquor saloon. Let no man see you there. 
Go straight by without turning your head. 
God says, " "Wine is a mocker, strong drink 
is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby 
is not wise." " Look not upon the wine when 
it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, 
when it moveth itself aright: at the last it 
biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an ad- 
der." If you want a clear head and a strong 
arm, self-respect, and money in your pocket, 
swear, and keep the oath, that you will never 
take a dram. 



ABOUT YOUBSELF. 17 

You can not afford to spend money for use- 
less dress and ornaments. You need tools, 
horses, plows, books, lands, education, — ev- 
ery thing, before costly rings, watch-chains, 
and expensive apparel. Do not waste your 
earnings on your person. Dress well, but in 
cheap, plain apparel. After you get a good 
home paid for, and money in the bank, you 
can indulge your taste or your vanity, but not 
now. 

You can not afford to he idle. Time is mon- 
ey. Every day you lose sets you back two 
or three days. Shake off sloth, then, rise 
early, roll up your sleeves, and quit yourself 
like a man. The world is full of profitable 
work and business, and nothing is impossible 
to the industrious and persevering. Idleness 
destroys a man's health, weakens hun, short- 
ens his life, makes him feel mean, and sends 
him on a short road to ruin. 

Every man is, under God, just what he 
makes himself; it matters not whether he be 
white or colored. Frederick Douglas was 
J^orn a slave and had no friend to help him; 



18 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FEEED3IEN. 

but, by dint of hard work, he has made 
Mmself a maiij — a wise, strong, eloquent 
man. ISTow you have yourself in charge, and 
I want you to make a man of yourself. "Will 
you do it? 




LECTURE V. 

TO YoimG me:n". 

AVE you ever seen a ship well laden, 
^Yith canvas spread, putting out to sea 
under a favorable wind? One always 
looks with interest upon such a specta- 
cle, for it is beautiful and insjDiring; but a 
shadow flits across the mind at the thought 
of the dangers to which the beautiful vessel, 
now gliding so smoothly and sailing so proud- 
ly, will be exposed. The fierce tempest may 
tear its white sails to shreds, its strong masts 
may be broken, the hidden rocks may dash it 
in pieces, and the angry waves swallow it up. 
It is with a feeling aldn to this, that I look 
upon a young man starting out in life. He 
has health, vigor, intellect, and is full of hope 
and promise ; but will he succeed, or will he, 
like an unfortunate vessel, be wrecked before 
he completes his voyage? 

My first advice to you, is to Jiave a ivortTii/ 
aim. Find out as soon as dossiI^Ip w>inf \rr\n 



20 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN. 

may apply yourself to, and then set about it, 
and bring to it all your powers. 

Many a man utterly fails because he frit- 
ters away his strength on useless and foolish 
experiments. He tries one thing and then 
another, diddles at this and diddles at that, 
and does nothing persistently and thoroughly. 

Concentrate your strength, young men. A 
large ball of wool can not be thrown with any 
great force, but see that solid piece of metal 
in the cannon. You ignite the fuse. There is 
a flash like lightning, a noise loud as thun- 
der, and the great ball strikes, like an aveng- 
ing angel, miles away! 

Now, you may say, you have not much 

' strength, — you are ignorant and unlearned ; 

but fix your aim, and worlc to it imtli all your 

powe7^s, and I will guarantee you great sue- 

cess. 

It may seem to you that there are obsta- 
cles in your way to success, which you can 
never remove; but, I tell you there is no 
obstacle which persistent work will not re- 
.,„. move out of your way. 




PETER PUFF AXD BETTY SIMPLE. 



TO YOUNG MEN. 23 

Get good steady work as soon as you can. 
Do not attem23t to live on the little jobs yoii 
may pick up about hotels and places of busi- 
ness. Do not be content with cold victuals, 
old clothes, and a blanket on the floor. Be 
a ma:n". Earn money, and save it. Do not 
spend it at suppers, parties, and dances. 

You have no time to spend in kicking up 
your heels. I speak of time^ not of the right 
or wrong of dancing. You must learn to 
read, wiite, and cipher, in order to make you 
able to get on well in the world as a free 
man, and you will need all your leisure even- 
ings to do this. It may be dull, hard work, for 
awhile, to sit down and study your book, while 
Peter Puff is hopping around the ball-room 
like a monkey, with Betty Simple, but it will 
become easy after awhile, and it will pay 
richly in the end. 

Do not he in haste to get married, "Wait 
until you are at least twenty-one years of age, 
^nd until you have a home for your wife. 
To marry a girl, and have no home to take 
her to, is foolish. She will soon regret that 



24 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN. 

she married you, and you will be sorry you 
married her. You will have a family of rag- 
ged children, and will be dogged around the 
world like a slave. "Wait, I say, until you 
have a home for a wife, and then if you can 
find a pure, good woman, who will help you 
on in the world, marry her. 

A:void the companij of had men and women. 
Do not go with a man who does not care for 
the virtue of a woman. Keep away from 
gamblers. ]^ever be found in the company 
of a woman who cares nothing about a good 
name. Lewd women will lead you down 
quick into hell. 

Make up your mind to be good, to do right, 
and you will be happy. God will love you 
then as he loved Joseph, and will take as 
good care of you as he did of him. 



J 




LECTUKE VI. 

TO YOUXG WOjMEI^. 

HAVE spoken plainly to the young 
men, and much that I have said to them 
is equally applicable to you; but I desire 

XI your careful attention to a few additional 
suggestions. 

There is no being on earth for whom I have 
a higher regard than a true woman ; and -if 
there is one thing I desne above another, it is, 
that the freed-women of this country, so long 
degraded and made merchandise of, may rise 
to the dignity and glory of true womanhood. 

The Christian religion elevates woman from 
slavery and concubinage to an honorable and 
responsible place in society; makes her man's 
"helpmeet," companion, and equal; and re- 
qunes of her the diligent cultivation of her 
mind, and of all the vntues. 

You ought not to consider life a mere play 
or holiday. You have serious and important 



26 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN. 

work to do, and yon should prepare yourselves 
for it, and devote yourselves to it, in the spirit 
of the noblest enthusiasm. 

Do not think of getting married until you 
know how to knit and sew, to mend clothes 
and bake good bread, to keep a nice clean 
house and cultivate a garden, and to read and 
write. Many girls are so foolish as to think 
that if they can only get married, it matters 
little to whom, they will then be happy. But 
many, perhaps a majority, find in married life 
nothing but misery. 

Let it be your first aim to make of yourself 
a true woman. Allow no man, under any pre- 
tense, to despoil you of 3^our virtue. The brand 
of shame rests upon the brow of the unchaste 
woman. She is hated, even by those who are 
as bad as she is. l^o man can ever love her. 
Her parents mourn the day of her birth; her 
brothers hang their heads in very shame when 
she is named, and her sisters blush to own her. 
If in your slave fife you have been careless of 
your morals, now that you are free, live as 
becomes a free Christian woman. Stamp a 



TO YOUNG WOMEN. 27 

lie upon the common remark, that colored 
women are all bad. Allow no white man to 
speak mean words to you, for he will leave 
you when he gets you into trouble, and would 
as lief see you die of hunger and cold as to 
live. 

I warn you against those base white men 
who come to you with smooth words and good 
promises, while seeking to destroy you. They 
are slimy snakes in the grass^ Do not hear 
them. Hate them as you hate the devil. You 
had better hang yourself by the neck until 
you are dead, than yield to them. 

A true, honest, wise woman is the best work 
of God. She is man's strength, the charm of 
the household, the attraction of the social cir- 
cle, the light of the church, and the brightest 
jewel in the Saviour's crown. 

But a foolish-, vain, cross, idle, slovenly 
woman is the meanest creature that ever 
blotted the fair creation of God. 



LECTUEE Vn. 

TO MAEEIED FOLKS. 







^^^HE Bible tells us that God made Adam; 
vMrJ^ and seeing that it was not good for 
him to be alone, he took a rib from his 
side, while he was asleep, and made a 
woman of it, whom he called Eve. He then 
waked Adam, brought Eve to him, and mar- 
ried them, and they spent then' honey-moon 
in Eden. 

You see from this story that marriage was 
instituted in Eden, by the great Being, and 
before sin was known in the world. It is 
sanctioned, too, both by the Law and the 
Gospel; and in all ages holy marriage has 
been blessed, while a violation of its laws has 
been visited by the most dreadful curses. 

You see also that, from the beginning, 
God meant man should have but one wife, 
and a woman but one husband, and that 



/ \ 








"S, ^>^:«v-«J«C<?iCO^N.-s-% 




^^^^-^^^^»#fl 




A HAPPY FAMILY. 



TO MABIUED FOLKS. 31 

^^ thej twain should be one flesh." God 
is angry with a man who has two or three 
wives, and with a woman who has several 
husbands. 

Wlien you were slaves you " took up " with 
each other, and were not taught what a bad 
thing it was to break God's law of marriage. 
But now you can only be sorry for the past, 
and begin life anew, and on a pure founda- 
tion. 

You who have been and are now living 
together as husband and wife, and have had 
children born to you, should be married ac- 
cording to law, as soon as possible. This 
will give you the civil rights of married per- 
sons, and will make your children the legal 
heirs to your property. If you have been 
living with several husbands, or with several 
wives, and can not agree among yourselves 
as to whom you should be legally married, 
take the case before some good man, let him 
hear all the cncumstances, and decide the 
case, and then abide his decision in good 
■fniflv nnrl live iDure lives in the futm^e. God 



32 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEED3IEN. 

will not wink at adultery and fornication 
among you now. 

I will give you a few hints which will be 
useful to you, I think, and aid you in getting 
on well in married life. 

1. Husbands must jprovide for tlieir fam- 
Hies, The Bible says "If any provide not 
for his own, and specially for those of his 
own house, he hath denied the faith, and is 
worse than an infidel." Your wives will not 
love you if you do not provide bread and 
clothes for them. 

They can not be happy and greet you with 
a kiss, when you come home, if they are 
hungry, ragged, and cold. Your children 
will not run to meet you, dance before you, 
and climb upon your knees, and call you 
" papa," if you make beggars of them. 

By industry and economy you can soon 
provide a real good home, and plenty of food 
and clothing for your own family- and you 
should not rest imtil this is done. This is 
your first duty, and the most rehgious thing 

vnn os\r\ rln. 



TO MABBIED FOLKS. 33 

Then spend all your spare time at Jiome, 
This is a good rule. Some men have a way 
of going to saloons, shows, groceries, con- 
certs, and theaters, and of leaving their wives 
and children night after night alone. This 
is mean, and bad. It disheartens a wife, 
makes children unhappy, and demoralizes 
husbands. IsTo, you must learn to love home 
better than any other place on earth. It must 
gladden your heart when you think of it. 
You should always be thinking how you Avill 
make it prettier and happier than it is; and, 
whatever trouble you may have in the tug 
and bustle of life, you should be happy at 
home. 

But wives must do their part, also. A 
man can not make a happy home if he has 
an idle, shiftless, and scolding wife. 

A wife should take good care of her person, 
be clean, neat, tidy, and look as pretty as 
possible. I do not see how a man can love a 
slovenly woman, who goes about with her 
heels out of her stockings, her dress un- 

pinr»pr1 Tipr hnir imoonihprl. with rlirt nnrloT 



34 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN. 

her finger-nails, and snuff or tobacco in her 
mouth. And no man can long love a brawl- 
ing wife. " A continual dropping will wear 
away a stone," and so an every-day scold will 
ruin the best temper. An ill-tempered wo- 
man will drive her husband to the saloon and 
to the evil one. 

Eve was made for a " help meet." This is 
the word. A wife must do her very best to 
help her husband make a living. She can 
earn as much money sometimes as he can, 
and she can save money. A leak in the 
kitchen will drain a good fortune. 

Much of the beauty and happiness of home 
depends on the good sense, economy, and 
industry of the wife. 

But, as married life is a partnership, — 
sanctioned by heaven, cemented by love, and 
perpetual, — each member of the firm should 
be prompt and faithful. They should sit 
together in loving counsel, talk over their 
affairs, and find out all that can be done to 
advance their mutual well-being. 

Thp.v should flo this for each other's p-ood^ . 



TO MABniED FOLKS. 60 

and for the good of their children. But, of 
the dear children, I must speak in the next 
lecture. 

But, before leaving you, let me entreat you 
to love each other. You have had your little- 
troubles, no doubt, and all men and women 
have their faults. Let these be mended, for- 
get the past, be kind to each other, strive to 
make each other happy, and let death alone 
part you. 

When I die, I ask no greater favor of earth, 
than that the wife of my youth may sit by 
me, wipe the death damp from my brow, and 
whisper in my ear, ^^ Dear one, we have been 
true to each other. You have been a dear 
good husband to me. Farewell ! I will meet 
you in the beautiful land, and bring our 
children with me." 



LECTUEE Ym. 

THE LITTLE FOLKS. 







■^^^HE Lord loves little children, and when 
ID he Avas in the world he called them to 
him, laid his hands on them and blessed 
them; and he also said that it would 
be better for any man to have a millstone tied 
to his neck and to be thrown into the sea, than 
to lay a stumbling-block in a little child's path 
and cause it to fall. All good people love 
children, and will do all they can to make them 
happy. But parents are especially charged 
with the care, government, and education of 
their own children. Allow me to give to 
those of you who are parents, a few hints. 

1. Government of children, No one can i 
govern a child who cannot govern himself; 
and parents must first learn to govern them- 
selves. If the father and mother quarrel, the 
children will follow the bad example. If 
father and^^^tli^^,s^.^.^^.^^;^i~fe^* and steal 



THE LITTLE FOLKS. 37 

the children will not be slow in doing the same 
things. It is not j)ossible for parents to place 
then' children on a moral plane higher than 
that upon which they themselves walk. 

Children must learn to ohey. This is one 
of the first things to be taught them. But 
obedience should be enforced in love, not in 
anger. Love is stronger than passion, and 
can punish with much better effect. 

Some parents fly into a passion with their 
children, call them hard names, and fall on 
them and beat them in a cruel manner. This 
is foolish and wicked. A parent should never 
strike a child in anger, never. Take time. 
Become perfectly calm. Make your wrong- 
doing child sit down by you, and hear you 
tell in quiet, tender voice, the evil thing 
done. Use the rod, if it must be done, in 
moderation. Let your child know that it is 
the deepest, tenderest love which directs every 
stroke. 

Children must he taught to ivorTc. It is 
cruel to overtask them, and imbitter their 



38 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN. 

pline of work. The best men in the world 
are those Avho acquired the habit of industry 
in thek youth. Give your children reason- 
able tasks and see that they perform them. 
Never allow them to do their work shabbily, 
nor to leave it when half done. Teach them 
to do well, to do in time, all that is commanded. 
This will give them a certain force of charac- 
ter which will be of service to them, in any 
situation, through the- whole of their lives. 
The ability and the will to work are, of them- 
selves, more valuable than inherited wealth. 

Children must he educated. "What I have 
just said relates to education in its broadest 
sense ; but I now speak of what is more gen- 
erally understood by education. 

You can not well over-estimate the value of 
education. It is worth more to your child 
than money. Education makes the mind 
stronger, gives greater vigor and endurance 
to the body, and adds to the years of a man's 
life. Then it opens numerous roads to com- 
petence and to wealth. An educated man 
o-p±s hidber wa^ps than an uneducated man. 



THE LITTLE FOLKS. 39 

and he can do many more things. But I need 
not argue the question. Send your children 
to school while they are small, and keep them 
there as long as you are able. Do not let 
them play truant. Do not fall out with their 
teachers when they are chastised. 

A little child comes into this great world 
an innocent, helpless, confiding creature, not 
knowing what to do, where to go, or how to 
shape its course; and if nobody loves and 
takes it by the hand, and leads it into good 
paths, it will stray away into vice and crime 
and misery. 

O parents ! love your children ; train them 
up in the good way; teach them to pray as 
soon as they can lisp the Saviour's precious 
name. Take them with you to the house of 
God; bless them with a good home, and 
when they go out from your humble roof, 
let your prayers call down upon then' heads 
heaven's constant benedictions. 



LECTUEE IX. 

WORK. 

^^ COME to speak to you this evening about 
work; yes, work, good, honest,'hard work. 




Do not turn away, and say you will not 
^ hear me, — that you know all about it, and 
that it is not a good subject for a lecture. 

Listen ! The very first verse of the Holy 
Bible tells us that God is a worker, — that in 
six days he made all this great world on which 
we dwell, and the sun and moon and stars. 

All the holy angels in heaven are very busy. 
They go forth to do the will of the Great Be- 
ing, and find their greatest bliss in action. 

Good and great men are all hard workers. 
And do you know what it is that makes a 
free state so rich and strong? It is, above 
all things save God's blessing, jyatient^ honest 
worh. 

There is nothing degrading in free labor, 
— nay, it is most honorable. Why, when 



WOIiR. ' 41 

God placed Adam and Eve in the garden of 
Eden, before either of them had ever done 
any wrong thing, and while they were as 
pure as the angels, he made gardeners of 
them. He required them to dress the garden 
and keep it nice and in good condition. 

The blessed Saviour hunself worked at the 
bench, at the carpenter's trade, until he was 
about thirty years of age. 

And yet, some very silly people are above 
work, — are ashamed to have hard hands, — 
and do their best to get through the world 
without honest toil. 

But this was not the case with Abraham 
Lincoln, the man who wrote the Proclamation 
of Emancipation. He used the hoe, the ax, 
and the maul, cleared ground, and fenced 
it with the rails he had spht, and was ready 
to turn his hands to any honest work. 

I know that it is quite natural that you 
should associate work with slavery, and free- 
dom with idleness, because you have seen 
slaves working all their lives, and free people 
doinsr little or nothing:. And I should not 



42 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEED3IEN. 

blame you if you should ask, "Wliat have 
we gained by freedom, if we are to work, 
work, work ! " 

Now, let me explain. A slave works all 
his life for others. A free man works for 
himself, — that is, he gets pay for his labor; 
and if he saves what he earns and manages 
well, he can get on so well that he may spend 
the afternoon of his life in his own pleasant 
home, and never want for any thing. 
















(o^4^^W^' 



DICK SLACK'S HOME. 




LECTUEE X. 

TREE LABOR. 

HAVE already spoken of the difference 
between slave labor and free labor; but I 
wish to dwell upon the subject more at 
length. I was myself brought up to hard 
work from my very childhood, and I am not 
speaking to you upon a matter that I know 
nothing about. 'No, my friends, I love work, 
and nothing would be a greater punishment 
to me than enforced idleness. I would rather 
work ten days than to be idle one day. 

I^ow free labor does not imply that you may 
perform your work iiTCgularly, carelessly, and 
dishonestly; and that your employer must 
put up with it, and say nothing about it. 
When you were a slave, it may have been 
your habit to do just as little as you could to 
avoid the lash. But now that you are free, 
you should be actuated by a more noble 
principle than fear. 



46 PXxLLY COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN. 

A free laborer should rise early, shake off 
sloth, step lively, and apply himself to his task 
betimes. A sluggard turns his lazy body in 
his bed when the sun peeps in at the window, 
and the birds are singing, and says, — "A 
little more sleep, a little more slumber." 
When he rises he mopes about, half awake, 
looks as dull as a mummy, stands half bent, 
and goes to work as a felon goes to prison. 
'So one wants him in shop, or on his farm. 
He earns little, and poverty makes a prisoner 
of him. 







LECTUEE XI. 

CONTRACTS. 

WE of the first things to which the at- 
tention of a freedman is called, is a con- 
tract You have all heard a great deal 
about contracts, have you not, since you 
have been free? A contract is something 
which binds two or more parties. For ex- 
ample, John and Mary agree together to get 
married. John promises Mary, and Mary 
accepts John. That is a marriage contract. 
Again : John Doe agi^ees to give Richard Roe 
fifty dollars for a month's work. That is a 
contract for labor; and, if Bichard Roe per- 
forms the labor, John Doe must pay him. 

Contracts are very numerous ; numerous as 
the leaves on the trees almost; and, in fact, 
the world could not get on at all without 
them. I will notice the various kinds of 
contracts. 

1. There are what are called imjylied con- 



48 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FREEDMEN, 

tracts — as, for example, if the baker leaves a 
loaf of bread at your house every day, and you 
take the bread, there is an unplied contract 
that you will pay for it, and the law Avill make I 
you pay for it, although you never said in 
ivords or in loriting that you would pay, or 
that you wanted the bread. 

2. There are also verhal contracts. These 
are the most common of all. A man tells you 
he will j)ay you a dollar for a day's work, or 
twenty dollars for a month's work, and you 
reply that you will do the work for the pay, 
— that is a verbal contract. By mere words 
or verbal agreements all manner of goods are 
bought and sold, and all kinds of labor em- 
ployed and jobs done. A man's word should 
be as good as his bond or his oath; and men 
generally do tell the truth and stick to their 
engagements. 

3. There are, besides the two kinds of con- 
tracts named, a third kind, called ivritten con- 
tracts. It is better to have all important bar- 
gains written down and signed by the par- 
ties, and that binds them; and if there should^ 



CONTBACTS, 49 

be any dispute about what was agreed to, the 
paper can be produced and read, and that 
settles the whole matter. 

You ought to know, too, that some agree- 
ments are of no legal force unless they are 
\mtten down. JSTo one can buy land and hold 
it on a verbal or implied contract. He must 
have it written down, signed, and witnessed. 
And a lease of land, for three years or more, 
must be in writing. This is the law, and it 
was made to prevent frauds. 

I^ow I wish to impress upon you the im- 
portance of complying strictly with your 
contracts. 

1. Heg ar d f or y our loord requires it. When 

you make a contract you pledge your word 
and honor that you will do as you agree, and 
when you break a contract through dishon- 
esty, idleness, or neglect, you dishonor your- 
selves. 

2. Respect for the rights of others, requires 
it. When a contract is violated, damage is 
usually done to the other party, and if he has 



50 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN, 

a mind to do it, he can sue the unfaithful 
party, and make him pay for his bad failh. 

3. Self-interest demands it, No man can 
succeed in any business, or labor, long after 
it becomes known that he does not come up 
to his promises. It is much better, in the long 
run, to live up to a hard contract than to 
break it, for the credit acquired thereby over- 
balances the loss. 




LECTURE Xn. 

DISHONESTY. 

BEG leave to invite your most earnest 
attention to the subject of this evening's 
lecture, because it is fraught with the 
highest interest to you, and your chil- 
dren, and your children's children. 

A snake is the best type of dishonesty. For 
this reason the enemy of all good is called a 
serpent, — " that old serpent, the devil." It 
was in the character of a serpent that he went 
to Eve in the garden of Eden, and, by artful 
words, persuaded her to look at the forbidden 
fruit, to desire it, and then to steal and eat it. 
The devil is a cheat, a liar, and a knave; in 
his very nature the very personification of 
dishonesty. 

There are numerous kinds of dishonest men 
in the world. One is a gambler, another a 
thief, a tliird is a swindler. One steals your 
STOods under cover of law, another under fair 



52 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN. 

pretense of honorable dealing, a third by the 
boldest knavery. 

Society is infested with sharpers, and now 
that you are free, and have a little money in 
your pockets or a little property at your dis- 
posal, they will watch you with keen eyes, 
and rob you if they can. 

You must not think that dishonesty is con- 
fined to one class or color or party. There 
are many dishonest Yankees and loyal men; 
dishonest Southerners and disloyal men; dis- 
honest white men, and black men; and you 
will find dishonesty in some instances crawl- 
mg about in the holy garb of philanthropy 
and religion. 

But it is my object in this lecture, not so 
much to put you on your guard against 
knaves, as to give you some hints which will 
enable you to avoid the evil and to be honest 
yourselves, for " An honest man's the noblest 
work of God." There are many fruitful 
causes of dislionesty^ and I will call your 
attention to a few of the more common. 



DISHOXESTT, 63 

1. Slavery. All agree that slavery fosters 
lying and stealing. In all countries and in 
all ages these vices have prevailed among 
slaves. But, as slavery has been for ever abol- 
ished in this country, that cause has been re- 
moved, although the effects have not ceased. 

2. Poverty. Extreme poverty subjects the 
poor to the temptation of theft. Agiu' prayed 
that he might not be reduced to poverty lest 
he should steal and take God's name in vain. 
If a man is hungry and has nothing to buy 
food with, or is shivering with cold and has 
nothing to buy wood or clothes with, he will 
be tempted to steal. 

3. Idleness. This is the most common and 
the most culpable cause of dishonesty. ^^ An 
idle man's head is the devil's workshop." The 
idle man tempts the devil to tempt hun. He 
sits by the wayside, and, as the old Evil One 
passes, he says to him, " See here, have you 
no job for me?" And the devil soon finds 
hmi a job. !N^ow, if you desu^e to do the dkty 
work of Satan, quit work and hang around 
the street corners and drmkino: saloons and 



54 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN 

groceries. You will soon have your hands 
full! If you wish your children to spend 
their lives in jails and workhouses, or to end 
tlieir days in the prison or on the gallows, 
bring them up in idleness. "Whenever you 
allow your children to loiter about, with noth- 
ing to do, you advertise them for the devil; 
you say, in effect, "Here, Satan; here are 
hands for you ! " , 

Oh, my friends, it is a sad thing to see a 
child die, to fold its cold hands over its still 
bosom, to close for ever its dear eyes, to kiss 
its sweet lips whose prattle has been music in 
your ears, to bend over its little coffin and 
gaze upon that matchless beauty in death, — 

•• Before decay's eflfacing fingers 
Have swept the lines where beauty lingers," 

and to see the coffin-lid closed, not to be 
opened again; but I would rather every one 
of my children should die and be buried thus, 
than that they should be raised in idleness, 
and thus be exposed to dishonesty. 




LECTURE Xni. 

RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES. 

'F you earn twelve dollars in a month, and 
spend thirteen, you are on the road to 
misery, for yon will get into debt, deeper 
-Q and deeper, until after awhile it* will be^ 
a load you can not carry. 

You should make it a rule, therefore, to 
spend less each month and each year than 
you make. If you do this, you will become 
well to do in the world. 

A free man should always consider before 
he buys an article, whether he can afford it. 
He would like a new hat, — price five dollars, 
— but if he needs the five for other and more 
pressing uses, to make a payment, for ex- 
ample, for something he has bought, then he 
should deny hunself the pleasure of the new 
hat, and brush up the old one. A new coat 
might be very desnable, but if its purchase 
would create a debt, better keep the old one 



56 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN. 

in good repair as possible, and stick to it 
another season. It is much pleasanter to 
wear the old clothes than to have the consta- 
ble chasing you in the new ones. 

Many a i^oor man has been driven almost 
out of his wits by constables, who were pur- 
suing him for the payment of debts made to 
gratify the vanity of his wife. She wanted a 
handsome breastpin, and begged him to buy 
it. He could not resist, and bought it with 
the proceeds of a week's hard toil, and, as a 
consequence, was obliged to go in debt for 
meat and bread. Then she wanted a fine 
dress; then this, and then that; and so he sank 
into debt, step by step, until he was ruined. 

A wife can soon destroy her husband's 
good name, by urging him to buy for her 
things she could do without, and for which 
he is unable to pay. 

It is a good plan for a man and woman 
who are just setting out as you are to make 
a living, to balance their accounts — that is 
count up what they earn and what they spend, 
and see how they compare — a great many 



BECEIPTS AND EXPENDITUBES. 57 

times in the year. It will not take them long 
to do it, and the task will be both pleasant 
and nseful. 

Eesolve that you will, by the blessing of 
God, live within your means. This is one of 
the most important secrets of success. It may 
cost you a struggle, but stick to it resolutely, 
and the day will come when you will be able 
to purchase not only the necessaries, but the 
luxuries of life. 

I am not counseling you to be mean and 
stingy, — by no means; but no man has a 
right to be liberal with another man's money 
and at another man's expense. 

For the sake of your good name, do not 
make a splurge in society with jewelry and fine 
clothes which have not been paid for, and for 
which you will never be able to pay. That 
is almost as mean as theft. 

" The borrower," says the Bible, ^^ is ser- 
vant to the lender," and, let me assm^e you, a 
creditor is a very hard master. Do not put 
your necks m his iron yoke. 

I am acquainted with manv white iDersons 



58 PLAIN COUNSELS FOE FBEEDMEN. 

who commenced married life twenty-five years 
ago Avith as little as you have now, and who 
worked with their hands for less than is given 
to 3"on, who are now owners of handsome 
houses and farms, and are in very easy cir- 
cumstances. They made it a rule to spend 
less than they earned. 



■^"srivt a -'a^j r / ganrsgiis^w aif-J BmfcJUB*L.\JLJ BB^^MM1WBmH*^** 



e^ 



LECTURE XIY. 

HOINIES. 

THIOT51 God intended that every man 
^ should have a place on the earth which 
he might call his o^vn, upon which to es- 
tablish a home for himself and his family. 
He made the world very large, and from age 
:o age is increasing the breadth of dry land, 
[nnumerable little creatures toil night and day 
bo build up foundations for islands from the 
bottom of the sea, and the busy waters carry 
from the mountain sides rich earths, to fatten 
and extend the land, ^atm'e is not stingy. 
She has homes for all! 

[NTow, I come before you this evening to 
turn your thoughts, if possible, with intense 
force to this subject. In my very heart I pity 
the man who has never had a home. 

A homeless child! Why, the angel of 
mercy weeps over it. And who so exposed, 

Q<^ nnlTm-kf-^Tr OQ o Ax^nmnn wIto Tina nr» V»r»mpT 



60 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN. 

Hood describes a poor girl who had thrown 
herself in the river because she had no home 
and could find no one to take her in. Look- 
ing at her beautiful form as she lay dead upon 
the bank of the stream, he said, — 

'♦Was it not pitiful? 
In a whole city full, 
Home she had none." 

Heretofore, you have had no opportunity 
to provide homes for yourselves and families. 
You were liable to be removed at any time, and 
it was impossible for you to keep your fami- 
lies together. But all that is now changed; 
and, if you have the mind to do it, you may 
in a few years own a piece of ground and a 
good house. In many places lots may be 
purchased for from fifty to five hundred dol- 
lars, and land for from one to thirty dollars 
per acre. A little economy and well-directed 
industry will enable you to make a purchase, 
and to become a freeholder. 

!N^ow, as soon as you have a house of your 
own all iDaid for, vou are. comDarativelv. an,^ 



E02IES. 61 

Independent man. No one can make you 
move away. You need not ask permission to 
live and die there. You command the situa- 
tion. You own all that is under your ground 
to the center of the earth, and all that is above 
^ou to the twinkling stars. 

I advise you to imitate the German people, 
riiey live close and work hard until they get 
^ood homes, and that makes them a thrifty, 
bappy people. You scarcely ever see a Ger- 
man beggar. And, if you take the advice I 
tiave given you, we will see few negro beg- 
gars in the United States twenty years hence. 

But I wish to give you a hint or two about 
^our home after you have it. 

It should he comfortable. It is better to 
make it tight and warm than waste fuel in 
keeping it heated. 

It should he Tcept clean. Filth breeds siek- 
Qess, and invites into yom' house the most 
fearful contagions. 

It should he heautiful. The great God 
loves beauty, and so he stoops down and 



62 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN. 

paints all the little flowers, and every thing he 
touches is beautiful. The beauty of the Lord 
appears in all his works, and he is pleased 
with us when we see and admire it. Many 
people have a mistaken notion of beauty. * 
They confound it with pride and vanity, and 
talk and act as if a religious person should be 
as rough and as ugly as possible. "What a 
sad mistake! 

Now, make your homes as pretty as possi- 
ble. A little paint, a little whitewash, a few 
yards of paper, some gravel walks and a few 
flowers, make all the difference in the world 
in the appearance of homes. 

Have you ever seen Dick Slack's home? 
Let me describe it. It stands on a bare lot. 
The fence is down, and much of it, to tell the 
truth, has been used for kindling. The pigs \ 
root around his door and sleep under his 
house. ISTo flower blooms about his dwelling, 
no green plat of grass spreads its charms 
before your eyes. His house is innocent of 
paint or whitewash, and from one window 



HOMES. 63 

le crown of an old hat sticks out, from 
notlier a pillow! 

And Dick is like his house ; see him stand- 
ig there, motionless as a post, half bent, with 
is hands in his pockets. Oh, Dick, stir your- 
elf ! Put up a nice fence about your dwell- 
ig. Go put glass in your windows. Grass, 
owers, gravel, and whitewash are cheap. 

Let us take a walk over to Paul Thrifty's. 
Lh! we are there. Open the pretty gate, 
isten to the hum of the bees. They know 
^here to find the flowers. See! that is a 
nmming-bird si^Dping daintily from the sweet 
oney-suckle which Mrs. Thrifty has trained 
y the side of the house. You walk on a 
lean pavement. Paul meets you at the door. 
lis hand is hard but his heart is warm. 
lis wife is clean, his children sweet, and 
very thing has an air of comfort. 

Paul has a home ! He loves it. His voice 
^oes up to God in prayer for his blessing in 
lis household. The good angels hover over 
he place. All the covenants of promise are 



64 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN 

his. And his children may wander to the 
farthest verge of the green earth, but their 
hearts will go back to the dear old home, and 
their memories will recall the wise counsels, 
the solemn warnings, and heartfelt prayers of 
the parental fireside. 



I 



: i.:* >. ■ - -■ -oaHh^tiaM 







THE WAY OF TRAXSGltESSORS IS HAKD. 




LECTUEE XV. 

CREME. 

IMUST speak a few earnest words to you, 
this evening, on a subject which should 
engage your most serious attention. 
An artist saw a beautiful child, — and 
nothing on earth is so beautiful as a child, — 
and he painted it upon canvas, and hung the 
picture in his studio, and named it ^^Inno- 
cence." Sweet, smiling, happy innocence! 

Many years afterwards the same artist vis- 
ited the cell of a notorious criminal, who had 
been sentenced to expiate his crimes upon the 
gallows. He was prematurely old; vice had 
marked his features with deep lines. His 
look was fierce as a wolFs. He appeared to 
be more a demon incarnate than a man, and 
yet there was in his face a look of inexpres- 
sible grief. The artist painted hmi also, — 
painted all the lines of vice and shame, mal- 



68 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN. 

ice and sorrow, and, placed beside the pretty 
child's picture, called it " Crime." 

"What a contrast ! but he afterward learned 
that the pictures were taken from the same 
person, — that years of crime had transformed 
the child he had named " Innocence^^ into the 
wretched man he had called " CrimeP 

My friends, such transformations are going 
on every day all over the world. Crime not 
only corrupts men's hearts, but it paints their 
vileness in their faces, and advertises them to 
men and to angels. Satan himself was once 
an angel, shining like a star in the heavens, 
but crime took from him his crown of glory 
and robe of light, and made of him an angel 
of darkness. A man may be gifted, learned, 
and wealthy, but if he is addicted to any vice 
all these blessings will be transformed into 
curses. 

]Srow I want you to fix it in your minds 
that crime and misery go hand in hand. They 
never can be separated, for the great God 
has linked them together. 



CBIME, 69 

always tempted to believe that he mil escape 
punishment. But, when the deed is done, he 
is placed in a new relation to himself and to 
all other beings. He is a criminal. He is 
condemned at the bar of his own conscience. 
His sleep becomes troubled. His imagina- 
tion tortures him with frightful images. He 
looks suspiciously upon all men. He is with- 
out a friend on the earth, for he must keep 
his own horrible secret. He is constantly 
afraid of detection. He watches, feverishly, 
every stranger who approaches hun, fearing 
he is a police officer about to arrest him. The 
very means he takes to avoid discovery leads 
to his detection, and at last he is arraigned 
and punished, for "Murder will out." The 
world is full of telltales, l^o man can escape 
punishment. Sleepless, stern Justice, with 
drawn sword, follows the guilty wi^etch day 
and night, in summer and in winter, over land 
and sea, and, when the time arrives for his 
execution, cuts him doAvn. 

Oh, my friends, no man can tell the depth 
of human miserv. Thousands and thousands 



70 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN 

whom we suppose to be comparatively happy 
have a worm gnawing at their heart; and, in 
the still watches of the night, they meditate 
upon the wrongs they have done, toss upon 
their restless beds, and wish they had never 
been born. 

Now if you wish to build upon the solid 
rock, to be on good terms with yourself, to 
be able to look every man in the face, and to 
have peace with your God, keep yourselves 
pure. Avoid all vice, and especially all those 
things which are forbidden by the wholesome 
laws of society. 

Let no man deceive you by plausible prom- 
ises. Scorn the gambler, the thief, the wretch 
who carries concealed weapons, and values 
not a human life. Be law-abiding, law-lov- 
ing men, for I tell you again that it is the 
saddest thing in the world to be a wrong- 
doer, to go through life like a beast of prey, 
and to have one's death-bed haunted by accus- 
ing angels. And then, " The wrongs men do 
in this life live after them." 




LECTUEE XVI. 

PtELIGIO:^". 

AM not a preacher by profession, but a 
simple, unpretending layman; but I can 
'^ not close this series of lectures without 
having a plain talk with you about relig- 
ion. It is a subject in Avhich I have felt a 
deep interest from my childhood. My mother 
was a widow, and was reduced by misfortune 
to extreme poverty, and I can remember when 
all the food we had in the house was on the 
table, and we knew not Avhere the next meal 
would come from. But my mother trusted 
impUcitly in God, and we were never obliged 
to beg bread. When I was a little boy only 
nine years old I was bound out to a farmer^ 
gathered up my little bundle of clothes, and 
went from my mother's home to live among 
strangers. But my mother followed me day 
and night with her prayers ; and, although I am 
now n mni. nnr1 hnvP. b^Pri a p-oorl deal in the 



72 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN. 

world among men, I can never get away from 
the Christian influence of my mother. I love 
Jesus, — have loved him from my childhood, 
and find my greatest happiness in his service. 
I trust therefore that, in speaking to you upon 
the subject of religion, I am addressing you 
upon a theme with which I am somewhat ac- 
quainted. But the subject is vast, and I can 
only touch upon a few points. 

"We read in holy Scripture of a man named 
Jacob, who, when he was young, set out to 
visit his uncle's house in Padan Aram. "When 
night came on he was in the desert alone, and 
he slept on the ground with a stone for a pil- 
low; and while he slept he dreamed that he 
saw a ladder set upon the earth, and the top 
of it reached to heaven ! 

Blessed vision! Human existence is not 
confined to this world. The Bible teaches 
that the soul is immortal; that there is a 
bright and beautiful world above this one on 
which we fight the battle of life, and that 
there is a ladder, — a plan of salvation, — 



BELIGION. 73 

accommodated to our weakness, upon which 
we may cHmb to heaven ! 

Blessed revelation! Under its glorious 
light life assumes unspeakable value. And is 
it possible that I shall live for ever? And has 
the great Being not only endowed me with 
immortality, but given me capacity to improve 
and increase in wisdom and goodness and 
happiness for ever and for ever? Is it possible 
for the humblest and most sinful man to be 
pardoned, washed in the blood of the Lamb, 
redeemed and glorified; to be placed in the 
firmament of heaven, and shine there as a 
star with forever-increasing splendor? 

Then it would be folly, wickedness, nay, 
madness, for me to confine my thoughts and 
aims to this life alone. If I am to live for ever 
I should spend this life with respect to the 
immortal existence with which the good God 
has endowed me. 

Man was made to be a religious being, to 
know, love, and obey his Creator; and he can 
never be truly happy in sin. All experience 
nrove^^i^tob^true^JDivin^ov^^^^ 



74 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FBEEDMEN. 

natural element of the soul, and when out of 
this element unrest, nay, misery, is a necessity. 
It can not be otherwise while his being remains 
what it is. A fish sports with delight in its 
natural element, the clear, cold water. It is 
'not afraid of the deepest water. It glides 
through it with pleasure, and rejoices in exist- 
ence ; but, when thrown out upon the beach, it 
gasps and dies. The bird, on the other hand, 
was created for the air. It spreads its wings 
and mounts up toward the sun, sings its sweet 
songs, and warbles in the tree-tops. But it 
can not live in the water with the fish. 

~So^Y God has given to each of us such a 
nature that we can only be happy when we 
are good; when we dwell in the love of 
God, and walk in the light as he is in the 
light. i^To man can change his own constitu- 
tion, and therefore, while God is sovereign, 
good men will be happy and bad men will be 
miserable. 

The Bible Is God's written word, and it is 
his will that it should be circulated among 
all men, and be read in all lanminp-es- ^nv if. 



ItELIGION. 75 

LS a revelation of the Divine Will, not to one 
race, or to the people of one color or clime, 
jut to man, 

I earnestly connsel yon, therefore, to read 
;his holy hook every day of yonr lives. If 
^on have never learned to read, apply yonr- 
j elves to stndy until yon can read the Bible. 
S'o man, nnder forty years of age, shonld 
'hink of getting throngh life withont ability 
o read a book which God has taken the pains 
;o prepare for him. If yon are too old to 
earn to read, then reqnire yonr children and 
ronr grandchildren to read it to yon. A 
Bible-reading people are always a free and 
lappy people. 

I advise yon to he liberal-minded toivard 
oilier Christian people. You are divided np 
imong a number of religious denominations, 
— as Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and 
]]piscopalian, — all of which have their excel- 
ent qualities, and all, perhaps, some weak 
)oints. !Now each one has a perfect right 
o his own preference, and no one should 



76 PLAIN COUNSELS FOB FREEDI^IEN. 

another. Love your own church, and do; 
your very best to make it strong. But use 
fah^ means. Let it not grow up in fraud, but 
in truth and goodness, and then the glory of 
the Lord will shine into it. 

In one army there are niunerous regiments, 
each having its own name, and all under 
one common leader or commander. Some 
fight in close order, others in open order. 
Some use artillery, others small arms. One 
regiment is mounted, another on foot. Now 
all have a common cause, a common enemy, 
and there should be but one purpose, — to 
serve the common cause and overthrow the 
common enemy. So in the great army of 
Christians. It is divided into numerous de- 
nominations, and has various modes of war- 
fare; but there should be no bitter rivalry; no j 
intestine feuds; no turning of hostile bayo- 
nets upon each other. This is the greatest 
folly and wickedness. 

Be liberal, then. Take your Christian broth- 
er, of whatever name, and work heartily with 
him in the promotion of every good work. |. 



BELIGION, 77 

Foin all your strength against the common 
nemy, and you will achieve glorious victo- 
ies. One shall chase a thousand, and two 
hall put ten thousand to flight. An old 
lymn contains a good prayer. 

♦'Help us to help each other, Lord, 
Each other's cross to hear ; 
Let each his friendly aid afiford, 
And feel his brother's care." 

Let your religion be characterized by char- 
ty toward all men. '^Vllen religion does not 
nake men kind and tender-hearted it is, evi- 
lently, false and spurious, no matter how pre- 
tentious it may be. Let me read to you, from 
:he best of all books, a parable spoken by the 
Grreat Teacher, which illustrates, with a beau- 
:y and power never surpassed, the true idea 
3f practical Christianity. 

^^ A certain man went down Irom Jerusa- 
lem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which 
stripped him of his raiment, and wounded 
bim, and departed, leaving him half dead. 
And by chance there came down a certain 



78 PLAIN COUNSELS FOR FBEEDMEN. 

priest that way and when he saw him, he . 
passed by on the other side. But a certain { 
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he 
was; and when he saw him, he liad compas- 
sion on hun, and went to him, and bound up ' 
his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set 
him on his own beast, and brought him to an 
inn, and took care of him. And on the mor- 
row when he departed, he took out two pence, 
and gave them to the liost, and said unto him, 
"Take care of him: and whatsoever thou 
spendest more, when I come again I will re- 
pay thee." 

Now, to love God aright, is to do as the 
good Samaritan did, to " Go, and do thou 
likewise." 

The same Great Teacher gave to us all a i 
beautiful and touching example of the spirit 
which should influence us in the choice of 
the work of life. On the same night in which 
he was betrayed, he took a towel and girded 
himself, and a basin of water, and washed the 
dusty feet of his disciples, and wiped them 
dry with the towel. Then he asked them if^ 



BELIGION. 79 

they understood what he meant to teach them 
by this example. " If I, yom' Lord and Mas- 
[:er, have washed your feet, ye also ought to 
5\^ash one another's feet. If ye know these 
Jiings, happy are ye if ye do them." 

The idea is this : that a good man is happy 
n performing the humblest services requu^ed 
Dy the necessities of his fellow-beings. He 
s ^villing, if need be, to wash the feet, to 
3athe the brow, to moisten the lips, or to sit 
ill night by the sick-bed of the humblest man. 

It is not the work, so much as the spkit 
vhich you take to it, which pleases God. And 

** Far better in its place, the lowliest bird 

Should sin;? ario^ht to him the lowliest son^f. 
Than that a seraph strayed should take the word, 
And sing his glory wrong." 



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